ARE PRO-RUSSIA PROTESTERS IN UKRAINE A KREMLIN PROP? Russians may not have to invade Ukraine—it looks like Russian-speaking Ukrainians are trying to do the job for them. Thousands of protesters in eastern Ukraine are trying to replicate the annexation of Crimea last month, declaring independence from Kiev and announcing a referendum on joining Russia. Their efforts haven’t been entirely successful: Moscow has yet to respond to their appeals for peacekeepers, and Ukraine’s top official has said the government is ready to forcibly end the protesters’ occupation of the assembly.

Ukrainian and U.S. officials said the unrest is simply a ploy engineered and paid for by Russians, allowing Moscow to keep its options open and for ways to undermine Kiev without an all-out invasion. The uprisings this week have boosted Russian efforts’ to loosen Kiev’s grip on the region and make the new government seem illegitimate—allowing the Kremlin to make the case that Ukraine isn’t ready for elections. Moscow has denied all accusations. James Marson reports: http://on.wsj.com/1iwb9yN

–Rebecca Ballhaus

EARLY HIT FROM DAMIAN PALETTA AND KRISTINA PETERSON
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan carries enormous clout within his party, and he’s going to need it Thursday when the House votes on his budget resolution. A handful of Republicans have said they want the spending cuts to be steeper and more immediate than what Mr. Ryan has proposed. He can only afford to lose roughly a dozen GOP defections, or the budget resolution likely won’t pass. Read the full post by Damian Paletta and Kristina Peterson in Washington Wire: http://on.wsj.com/1lSxLQE

Associated Press

WSJ STORIES YOU SHOULDN’T MISS

MEDICARE DATA MISSING KEY ELEMENT: The trove of Medicare data released Wednesday shows a wide range of characters among the highest-reimbursed doctors. But medical groups and policy makers say the data is missing context. Without that, it’s unclear which doctors may be abusing the system. Christopher Weaver, Melinda Beck and Ron Winslow report: http://on.wsj.com/OFGU01 Read more on how the data highlights potential abuses: http://on.wsj.com/OFPxru

OBAMA SHIFTS ON CIVIL-RIGHTS APPROACH: President Barack Obama will likely highlight today how his approach to civil rights has changed since his first term, in a speech ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Over the last six years, Mr. Obama has shifted from being hesitant to target aid to minority communities to doing just that. Colleen McCain Nelson explores the reasons for that shift: http://on.wsj.com/OFQj7Z

FED WORRIES ABOUT LOW INFLATION: Federal Reserve officials are getting worried that the inflation rate won’t budge from its low levels, the latest sign of angst among central bankers about gloabl economic weakness. Economists view low inflation, when associated with small wage gains, excess business capacity and soft global demand, as a factor that restrains investment and hiring and makes it harder for people and businesses to pay off debt. Jon Hilsenrath reports: http://on.wsj.com/1sCy5Ve

ALSO IN THE NEWS: Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats are pressing the president to approve the Keystone XL pipeline by the end of May: http://on.wsj.com/1lSvbdh … Fed officials worried at their last policy meeting that they might unintentionally indicate they were more eager to raise interest rates: http://on.wsj.com/OE8MSu … Major car makers are accelerating recalls amid an aggressive safety clampdown by auto regulators: http://on.wsj.com/1ei7ZmD …

–Compiled by Rebecca Ballhaus

JERRY SEIB: CHUCK HAGEL MEETS THE TWO FACES OF CHINA
In a tense meeting with China’s defense minister, Chang Wanquan, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stated China was being provocative in its Pacific naval exertion. The following day, however, President Xi Jinping lauded his country’s friendship with the U.S. Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Seib on what conclusions to draw from Mr. Hagel’s trip. VIDEO: http://on.wsj.com/1gaK1ER

HERE’S A LOOK AT THE DAY AHEAD

–President Obama will likely highlight today how his approach to civil rights has changed since his first term, in a speech at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin ahead of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. http://on.wsj.com/OFQj7Z

–Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wraps up his trip to Asia, pledging to strengthen military cooperation with Mongolia.

WHAT WE’RE READING AROUND THE WEB

In a barbed attack on John Kerry, the New York Post’s John Podhoretz castigates the secretary of state for blaming Israel for the latest collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying it was neither Israel’s refusal to release more Palestinian prisoners nor its construction of new housing in a disputed part of Jerusalem that blew up the process. As for Kerry: “What he wants is a Nobel Peace Prize he’s never going to get.” http://bit.ly/1lSsXe5

Paul Blumenthal of Huffington Post crunches the numbers and concludes that no other political organization comes close to the Koch brothers in spending so-called “dark money” to directly affect elections. http://huff.to/1lSt0Xk

California’s drought is severe enough that it is looking halfway around the world for help in dealing with it: to Israel. Haaretz reports that the state has signed an agreement to take advantage of Israeli experience in dealing with water scarcity, including desalination technology and drip irrigation techniques. http://bit.ly/1lSthJU

Peter Suderman of Reason thinks Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal did a lot more than offer his own health plan a few days ago. He forced the party to start coming together around a real and comprehensive alternative to Obamacare, and to “reckon with the trade-offs it requires” to do so. http://bit.ly/1lSt7C4

Brookings’s Isabel Sawmill says Republicans should delink the social-mobility agenda from fiscal austerity as one step to give it broader appeal. “As long as it is seen as the road to a much cheaper federal government, it will be viewed as budget cutting in opportunity clothes.” http://bit.ly/1lQn7d9

MILESTONE
Natural- and organic-grocery sales have mushroomed to $48 billion in 2012 from $6 billion in 1998. http://on.wsj.com/1lSAtFO

Fifty percent of the public approves of the health-care law, while 37% disapprove–little changed from last month, according to a Pew Research Center/USA Today poll. http://bit.ly/1lSD96a

FEEDBACK: Welcome to the new WashWire Daily Brief newsletter, the Journal’s morning rundown of the biggest news stories and exclusive features from Washington on politics, policy, financial regulation, defense and more. Send your tips, feedback and suggestions for recommended reading to editor Kate Milani at kate.milani@wsj.com.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.